Mark Stephens FollowMark Stephens has been working with Java and PDF since 1999 and has diversified into HTML5, SVG and JavaFX.
He also enjoys speaking at conferences and has been a Speaker at user groups, Business of Software, Seybold and JavaOne conferences. He has a very dry sense of humor and an MA in Medieval History for which he has not yet found a practical use.

Is it still worth attending software conferences in 2017?

June 1, 2017 1 min read

Each year we ask ourselves this question. Conferences are expensive to attend, consume a great deal of time, energy and money and represent a substantial opportunity cost to a small organisation like IDRsolutions. And with the internet becoming increasingly prevalent as the place to do business, can we just stay at home and open up our browser?

So we asked ourselves what the benefits were of attending a conference and our list included:-

Meet client and potential clients face to face, often in their own offices.

See trends, developments and what is happening in the wider software world.

Get a different perspective from usual.

Chance hallway conversations and encounters.

Learn from and be inspired by some really amazing people.

Be part of some big community events.

Renew and revitalise ourselves.

Visit some amazing places.

The IDR team at JavaOne in San Francisco

These are still things which you cannot get online….

So we reviewed the events on offer and we have carefully picked five events we will be attending in the second half of 2017 and explaining why we are attending them. We kick off next week with a report on this weekend’s Business of Software Europe conference (a chance to learn from the most successful Software Companies of the moment).

Mark Stephens FollowMark Stephens has been working with Java and PDF since 1999 and has diversified into HTML5, SVG and JavaFX.
He also enjoys speaking at conferences and has been a Speaker at user groups, Business of Software, Seybold and JavaOne conferences. He has a very dry sense of humor and an MA in Medieval History for which he has not yet found a practical use.